Marina Markezic, co-founder of the European Crypto Initiative, said that regulatory conferences are having a tangible impact as the European Union (EU) finalizes the implementation of the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation and redefines tokenization rules. This statement was made on X.
“Crypto conferences are important for European Crypto Initiative because we share updates with the community, but the regulatory conferences are where the real impact happens,” said Markezic. “The EU is at a pivotal time: finalising the implementation of MICA and redefining the tokenisation framework.”
The EU’s MiCA regulation is set to come into force in 2024, with stablecoin rules effective from June 30 and broader crypto-asset service provider obligations from December 30. The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) released its final policy package in December 2024, while the European Banking Authority (EBA) issued guidelines for token issuers during the same week. In June 2025, ESMA reviewed the EU’s Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) Pilot Regime and suggested reforms to make tokenized securities frameworks permanent, indicating the EU’s intent to expand tokenization infrastructure.
According to a May 2025 financial stability report by the European Central Bank (ECB), approximately 10% of euro-area households held crypto-assets in 2024, with another 10% planning to purchase within a year. A November 2024 ECB survey showed that 9.7% of EU households owned crypto, with over half holding less than €1,000, totaling around €75 billion—just 0.23% of EU household financial assets. These findings highlight moderate adoption but limited balance-sheet impact.
Attendance data shows rapid growth for European crypto conferences compared to steadier regulatory finance events. EthCC expanded from about 5,200 participants in 2023 to 6,400 in 2024, with more than 10,000 expected in 2025. Meanwhile, the European Blockchain Convention projects over 6,000 attendees in 2025. In contrast, Eurofi’s April 2025 seminar drew only 1,200 participants, and Sibos had approximately 10,100 attendees in 2024. This indicates that crypto-native gatherings are closing the gap with strong double-digit growth.
Markezic is also Executive Director of the European Crypto Initiative (EUCI), where she works on EU crypto policy and open blockchain advocacy. She has advised blockchain projects since 2017 on governance and decentralization and is active on decentralized finance (DeFi) and non-fungible token (NFT) regulation. She also served on the board of Blockchain Think Tank Slovenia and frequently speaks at European regulatory forums.
The European Crypto Initiative is a Brussels-based nonprofit founded in 2020 to influence EU crypto regulation favoring open systems and innovation-friendly rules. It focuses on advocacy, cooperation with other policy groups, and education for policymakers on DeFi and blockchain technologies. The organization emerged in response to MiCA’s early drafts to represent decentralized use cases in Brussels policymaking.
